DID YOU KNOW?
The Lewis and Clark Expedition
Article by Michael Joseph Lynch
This story begins in 1804 when President Thomas Jefferson appointed Meriwether Lewis to explore the lands west of the Mississippi River that comprised the Louisiana Purchase. Lewis chose William Clark as his co-leader for the mission. The excursion lasted over two years. Along the way, they confronted harsh weather, unforgiving terrain, treacherous waters, injuries, starvation, disease, and both friendly
and hostile Native Americans. Nevertheless, the approximately 8,000-mile journey was deemed a huge success and provided new geographic, ecological, and cultural information about previously uncharted areas of North America.
Anyway, during the French and Indian War, France surrendered a large part of Louisiana to Spain and almost all its remaining lands to Great Britain. Then